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Net Zero Emissions
…their emissions to net zero in the coming decades. To inform these efforts, the IEA released a first-of-its-kind Net Zero Roadmap in 2021, outlining what would be required within the energy sector to achieve this goal at the global level by mid-century. An update to the Roadmap, which has served as an essential benchmark for policy makers, industry, the financial sector and civil society, was published in 2023.The Roadmap is based on the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions (NZE) Scenario, which portrays a pathway for the global energy sector to achieve net zero carbon dioxide…
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Climate Change
…Yet the production and consumption of energy is also responsible for 75% of greenhouse gas emissions, making it the primary driver of climate change.As temperatures around the world continue to break records, the case for swiftly transforming the global energy system has never been stronger. The IEA’s Net Zero Roadmap lays out a pathway for the world’s energy sector to reach net zero emissions by mid-century, limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, as called for by the Paris Agreement, and avoiding the worst effects of climate change.The rapid growth of some clean energy technologies…
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COP28: Tracking the Energy Outcomes
…meet the energy goals set at COP28 Nearly 200 countries made major collective pledges on energy at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai with the aim of keeping within reach the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. For the first time, governments explicitly recognised that to achieve this target, energy-related emissions need to reach net zero by 2050, and they set key goals to help meet this objective – including tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling global energy efficiency improvements by 2030, and deploying emerging technologies, such as low-emissions hydrogen and carbon capture.The IEA…
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Energy and Water
…and current trends point to another doubling to 2030. Some 21,000 desalination plants currently operate in about 150 countries, from the United States and China to Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia – though half of global installed capacity is located in the Middle East and North Africa. Renewables can help ease the energy sector's water problem In a scenario in which global energy sector emissions reach net zero by 2050, water withdrawals by the energy sector decline by almost 20 bcm by 2030. The biggest reductions happen in the power sector, where withdrawals fall nearly 15% as coal…
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Investment
This initiative includes a dashboard that offers free data on financing costs for clean energy projects, tools and analysis to help governments identify and address investment risks, and case studies showcasing successful strategies for mobilising capital. This initiative includes a dashboard that offers free data on financing costs for clean energy projects, tools and analysis to help governments identify and address investment risks, and case studies showcasing successful strategies for mobilising capital. Globally, energy investment by governments, households and businesses is expected to reach a new high of $3.3 trillion in 2025. How this spending is allocated has major…
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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of the most consequential technologies of our time. In recent years, the capabilities of AI systems have grown quickly due to improved computing power, a boom in data availability and breakthroughs in the design of AI models, leading to rapid adoption by both businesses and individuals. Though significant uncertainties remain, AI has the potential to transform the energy sector in the coming decade. It is set to drive a surge in electricity demand from data centres around the world while also unlocking significant opportunities to cut costs, enhance competitiveness and reduce emissions.To…
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Access and Affordability
“An Affordable and Sustainable Energy System for Sub-Saharan Africa” (Energy Sub-Saharan Africa) is a five-year programme (2019-2024) funded by the European Union. It supports work with Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia, with the aim of promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth through the transition towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient energy sector, while delivering universal and affordable energy access to all. Today, 730 million people around the world live without access to electricity, while over 2 billion people continue to rely on harmful cooking fuels…
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Fossil Fuel Subsidies
… they have no direct budgetary impact, so long as the price covers the cost of production. The subsidy, in this case, is recorded as the opportunity cost – or the rent that could be recovered if domestic consumers paid world prices, adjusting for differences in variables such as transportation costs. For net importers, subsidies measured via the price gap approach may be explicit, representing budget expenditures arising from the domestic sale of imported energy at subsidised prices, or implicit. Many economies rely extensively on domestically produced fuels but import the remainder. In such cases, subsidy estimates represent a combination of opportunity…
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Energy Innovation
CERT co-ordinates and promotes the development, demonstration and deployment of clean energy technologies. The CERT has established five working parties: the Working Party on Fossil Energy; the Working Party on Renewable Energy Technologies; the Working Party on Energy End-Use Technologies; the Fusion Power Co-ordinating Committee and the Working Party of Industrial Decarbonisation. The CERT has also established an Experts' Group on R&D Priority-Setting and Evaluation (EGRD) to advise on R&D priority-setting, linkages to governmental policy objectives and methods in the evaluation of R&D activities, and an understanding of emerging R&D topics. Energy…
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Energy and Gender
It comprises a number of senior officials from IEA Member countries, facilitating the exchange of best practices on gender equality and inclusion and gender mainstreaming across the energy sector. Women are vital energy consumers, producers and decision-makers who make a crucial contribution to global energy security and energy transitions. Building a more secure, fair and equitable energy future hinges on their active participation.Recognising this, the IEA’s Member countries have asked the Agency to focus on key issues at the nexus of energy and gender, from improving gender data collection to expanding analysis of the gender dimensions of…